With changes as frequent as Transformers continuity may be, it has been incredibly difficult to define exactly how your biology works. However, a series published by IDW presented a serious and uncomfortable fact: Cybertronians can get pregnant. Although this process is not at all what one would expect, the techno-organic concept is relegated to a very specific situation that the franchise has since had to re-address.
Cybertronian reproduction has long been a gray and nebulous area that the franchise’s creators rarely address. The most commonly accepted form of reproduction begins with a protoform created by other Transformers or Cybertron.
From there, a spark, the Cybertronian “soul,” is transplanted into the body to create new life. However, at IDW Transformers: Lost Light #15 by James Roberts and Brendan Cahill, a new reproduction process introduces an organic component into the equation. This method is disturbingly scary, and not for any of the reasons you might think.
Cybertronian pregnancy is a product of mad science and desperation
Transformers: Lost Light #15 by James Roberts, Brendan Cahill, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Joana Lafuente and Tom B. Long
As with many continuities in this version Cybertronians are on the brink of extinction. Without Cybertron, new sparks cannot be created. As the Decepticons often find themselves on the losing side of war, their numbers have been significantly reduced. It seems that it has often been proven that organic beings are capable of sacrificing their life force to strengthen the spark of a Transformer. For the Decepticon Scorponok, who received this rebirth through self-sacrifice, his second chance at life would prove to become the spark for a new generation of techno-organic Transformers.
By reverse engineering his own semi-organic state, Scorponok discovered a process that implants a spark in a laboratory-developed human-like vessel. After loading the being into an artificial womb, the child would be born and raised by the Decepticon army. Some organic Cybertronians would likely be designated as creators, while the rest would grow up and have their theorized spark transplanted into a traditional Cybertronian body.
If implemented correctly, This process would have revolutionized Cybertronian procreationno longer needing Cybertron to boost the species. Unfortunately for Scorponok, his laboratory was invaded by the Autobots and the child came under Grimlock’s protection.
Organic Cybertronians are a much more attractive alternative to the status quo
We hope that the Energon Universe decides to explore the process further
Unfortunately, this concept was never returned in all future IDW Transformers publications. Frankly, it was a compelling turning point that would have changed the future of the franchise. While Beast Wars initially introduced techno-organic Cybertronians, Lost Light It was the first series to give an alternative breeding style to the original, established answer to the Transformers’ breeding. This method was first conceived by one of the main writers of the original Marvel film. The Transformers series, Bob Budiansky. The comic book writer presented the “Creation Matrix”, more commonly known as the “Leadership Matrix”.
While the process is certainly disturbing, it would be a compelling plot point in future Transformers series.
Passed down by the Cybertronian god Primus, the Creation Matrix produced new sparks and served as the original response to the introduction of new Transformers. Anything related to the species’ gender similarities is purely a matter of Cybertronians’ personal preference, also serving to “explain” why the franchise did not have female gender identities among its robotic cast. Regardless of what happened, the past does not take away the brief moment when organic-cybertronian birth was a canonical alternative to reproduction. While the lawsuit is certainly disruptive, it would be a compelling plot point moving forward. Transformers series.
Transformers: Lost Night #15 is available from IDW Publishing.